CLEAR THE TABLE, CLEAR THE MIND

Seeing this every day for several weeks simply got to be too much.

Eventually we will use our dining room table for, well, dining. We've lived in our home for 17 months now, and rare is the meal that we have eaten at the table.

Unless, of course, we have company over. When we have company, we sit down at the table, face other people and have quality human interaction. We don't want company thinking we don't eat at the table now, do we?

So more often than not, the dining room table has truthfully served as a storage spot or a craft table. The latest project? Completing the task of writing thank you notes to all of our friends and family who supported us and provided gifts for the arrival of the Little One.

So much love and joy shared by so many people. The generosity was overwhelming. At times, so too was the task of saying, "thank you" to everyone.

With more than 90 hand-written notes to mail out, it was a multi-step process, to be sure. Several weeks ago, Grandpa (up on a visit from North Carolina) spent the day with the little one as The Wife and I cranked out the bulk of the actual note-writing.

The stacks of notes and blank envelopes sat in piles together on the table for a few weeks. We knew this was a process that we'd get done in chunks, so it made sense to leave the stuff there.

We were so touched by the support we have received in recent months, we wanted to add a little touch. The Wife came up with the idea of printing out pictures of the little one, and we had 100 4x6 prints made.

Which was great, until we realized typical "Thank You" cards don't come as big as 4x6 size. That's why last weekend, while the Little One napped, yours truly sat at the dining room table and trimmed each photo  - one-by-one - on three sides with a small paper cutter so they would fit in the cards.

As The Wife finished writing the remaining notes, I looked up and printed out the addresses for each person. She finished writing as the Little One woke up, crying from hunger. So while she stuffed him with food, I stuffed the envelopes with the cards.

The cards were mailed out (or handed out, where applicable). The hard part was done, or so we thought.

The leftover cards and pictures stayed on the dining room table. As did the printer labels, address book, the sheets of paper listing the names and addresses not in our book yet. It all sat there, taunting us every time we walked through the room.

The notes were done (actually, one last straggler went in the mail this morning), but the clean-up still needed to be done.

With each day that passed, the annoyance built. Much as you try not to make eye contact with the remnants of a project, it's impossible to ignore it. What starts as a small headache during the weekend becomes a full-fledged migraine after a few days. An hour of clean-up turns into a mountain of stress.

The mess is gone, as is
the headache that came with it.

Last night was the breaking point. The Little One fell asleep by 6:45 p.m., so before getting caught up in anything else (including dinner - hey, the desire to eat can make me a cranky but motivated guy), I sat at the table and straightened and organized until the table was clear.

As the last item (ironically, a bottle of hand sanitizer) was put away, the mind felt cleansed and a weight felt lifted. We could once again look at the dining room table and see a dining room table.

Who knows? Maybe one of these days we'll actually sit at the table and eat something.